For Business Owners

Research Says

Sick leave lowers costly turnover. The direct costs of losing and replacing an employee range from 25% to 50% of annual pay for hourly workers, and more for highly skilled employees.

Sick employees have more workplace accidents. A recent CDC study finds workers with Paid Sick Days are 28% less likely to be injured at work, meaning fewer workers comp claims.

People with sick time only use half their available days in national surveys. In San Francisco after sick leave passed, workers used on average 1 to 3 days per year – and 25% used none.

Getting Real about Cost

Businesses have direct costs from providing paid sick leave, particularly in scheduling and paying replacement staff. But real-life experience shows those costs are often less than expected and largely off-set by gains in productivity, retention, and customer satisfaction.

Examples of Paid Sick Leave Accrual, by Employee*

Firm

Days accrued after 1 year

Days accrued after 2 years, if previous year’s hours roll over

Half-time employee

Full-time employee

Half-timeemployee

Full-timeemployee

Fewer than 10 employees

4.3

5

5

5

More than 10 employees

4.3

8

8

9

250+ employees, with PTO

8

13.5

13.5

13.5

* 1 hour for every 30 hours worked. Max of 40 hours in firms with fewer than 10 employees, up to 72 hours/year in larger firms.